Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has sent a warning to his squad that he is capable of making "decisive decisions", after Teboho Mokoena and Khuliso Mudau were left out of their Betway Premiership opener against SuperSport United.
Mokoena and Mudau not making the squad caused a stir in the football fraternity, with suggestions going around that there could be personality clashes between the duo and Mngqithi.
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It was no surprise for the former PSL Footballer of the Season and ex-Defender of the Season to miss the CAF Champions League second preliminary round, first-leg clash against Mbabane Swallows, after their commitments with Bafana Bafana, who played away to South Sudan.
However, suspicions were raised after Mokoena and Mudau missed out of the squad completely again in their opening league game against SuperSport, where they were seen in the stands.
Mngqithi perhaps gave a hint in his post-match press conference after a 4-0 win over Umkhonto KaShaka, that, "To fight complacency at Sundowns, the biggest advantage we have is competition.
"When you think you will play whenever you want to play, you will always have a problem," he said.
After the Tshwane Derby victory, the 53-year-old mentor also made it clear that he knows how to deal with influential players no longer giving their all for the team.
"One thing you must know is that I'm very capable of taking decisive decisions, that's one thing I'm good at," Mngqithi told reporters at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
"If you can check some of the top players that were respected in my previous clubs, when I say I no longer feel you're helping the club, I take that decision and I move, and that helps me a lot.
"If you go back to Golden Arrows and you check what happened to 'Y2K' [Lucky Sibeko], what happened to [the late] Bheka Phakathi, all these players that were influential in those teams. But when I feel you're not going to help the team at that point in time, I take the decision."
However, Mngqithi also revealed that he does not hold grudges.
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"But one thing good, I'm a very good human being. I don't keep grudges. When you're ready to perform and give the team what it needs, I will always embrace you, because I must be a bigger boy. I must be a father to these kids. These kids are looking up to their leader, to make sure that he's also fair to them.
"And just like in any other family, there will be good moments, there will be bad moments, there will be punishments, there will be rewards. There will be successes, there will be failures, it's a story of life."